Little Falls, NJ - Sophomore Kevin Wright (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) went 4-for-6 with two RBI's and three runs scored as Kean University defeated Montclair State University 17-7 Friday afternoon in New Jersey Athletic Conference action at Yogi Berra Stadium.

With the win the Cougars (21-13-1, 9-7 NJAC) have earned a season split with the Red Hawks (20-11, 10-5 NJAC). MSU previously defeated Kean 8-3 last Friday.

Kean broke the game wide open as they plated six runs in the fifth inning. The Cougars answered with three consecutive singles after a leadoff strikeout. After two Red Hawk miscues junior Justin Nathanson (Iselin, NJ/John F. Kennedy) blasted a two RBI triple off the left field wall to extend the lead to 12-3.

In all Kean pounded out 22 hits in the contest, including six extra-base hits.

Freshman Joe Augustine (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park) earned the win in relief. Augustine (5-0) tossed five innings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits. He also struck out four and walked two.
Senior Lou Wieben (Secaucus, NJ/St. Mary's) suffered the loss for MSU. Wieben (4-3) allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Offensively for the Cougars, leftfielder Joe D'Andrea (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Nathanson completed the afternoon with a 3-for-6 performance falling a homeun shy of the cycle while teammates Perry Schatzow (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Twp.) and Wright each provided a spark with the longball with a three run blast and solo shot respectively.

For Montclair, junior MATT BENEDETTI (Summit, NJ/Summit) blasted his third homerun of the season, a three run shot in the bottom of the ninth while MIKE HALLIGAN (Pompton Plains, NJ/Seton Hall Prep), ANTHONY MASSONI (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's Boys School) and ETHAN BOYD (Perth Amoby, NJ/Perth Amboy) each had two hits apiece.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday as they take on Rutgers-Newark in NJAC doubleheader action beginning at noon at Yogi Berra Stadium.

Kean returns home to face Rutgers-Camden also in NJAC action beginning at noon.